When temperatures soar to nearly 100 degrees, one’s mind certainly turns to hockey, doesn’t it? This week, the Portland Winterhawks will put hockey back in the forefront as they open their 39th training camp with one that may have a lot of questions to start.
The team will be minus much of its main scoring touch this season from players who have either maxed out by age in the league, or who were drafted and signed by National Hockey League teams. Headed to the NHL are Anton Cederholm, Chase DeLeo, Nic Petan and Oliver Bjorkstrand, the latter three comprising nearly sixty percent of the past two years of scoring. Josh Hanson, Miles Koules and Adam Henry finished their last season as eligible players and will either use scholarship time earned while playing or seek a professional hockey deal somewhere. Layne Viveiros, who was eligible to play this season as a twenty year old, signed a contract in Austria and will play there as a professional. The Hawks also traded goaltender Evan Johnson, who they acquired in the deal near trade deadline last season for Brendan Burke, to Medicine Hat Tigers for a conditional pick.
Due to Bjorkstrand and Cederholm being imports and not with the team this year, the Winterhawks were able to draft two players from Europe in Rodrigo Abols of Latvia and Carl Ericson from Sweden. Both players are forwards and enter this season as 19 year olds on the roster, meaning that, unless Portland elects to use up two spots for them on the roster as both overage and import spots next season, these two players are here just for the upcoming season. However, their experience in world play and North American hockey will help bolster an offense that will need strong support.
Goaltending will be led by Adin Hill, who was drafted by the Phoenix Coyotes in this year’s NHL Draft. In an odd twist, Phoenix’s goaltending coach Sean Burke is the father of former Winterhawks goaltender Brendan Burke, whom they drafted last year. However, Brendan was not signed and was released back into the draft pool in order for Phoenix to nab Hill. Hill was the one who nudged out Burke to become the Winterhawks number one goaltender. Michael Bullion, who challenged for the spot last year, only to be beat out by Hill, is expected to slot in as the backup to Hill this season. Bullion had a very strong camp last year and was impressive in his games that he played for the Winterhawks.
Defense is the big question mark again this year. With Hanson and Henry gone due to age and Viveiros landing in Austria, the big weight lands on 19-year-old Keoni Texiera -along with 20-year-old Blake Heinrich. 18-year-old Nick Heid will finally get into action after shoulder surgery sidelined him for the season last year. 17-year-old Brendan DeJong is the only other returning defenseman to the team.
One signing which should get fans familiar with the name Jones is Caleb Jones. Caleb is the younger brother of former Winterhawk, now strong defenseman for the Nashville Predators, Seth Jones, Caleb apparently follows very closely in Seth’s steps as both a member of the Winterhawks and being drafted by an NHL team, though not the same one as Seth plays on. Caleb was selected in the fourth round of this year’s draft by the Edmonton Oilers. Another defenseman signed by Portland with draft ties to the NHL is highly touted Jack Dougherty, who was drafted last season by Nashville. Jack played last season for the University of Wisconsin and hopes to use the WHL to get him accustomed to the rigors of the NHL.
The Hawks will run camp through this Sunday and follow that with a Fan Fest in the parking lot of the Winterhawks Skating Center (9850 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy in Beaverton) from 1-3pm. The Fan Fest is free to the public with games for the kids and a chance to see what the team will be like this year and nab themselves a few autographs. The Booster Club will also be in attendance promoting the fan trips for the season and more.
The Hawks will then hit the road for the next two weeks in Everett and Tri-City with games against US Division teams, before finalizing a roster and gearing up for regular season action. This year, Portland will start the season on the road in Victoria, BC and open home regular season in Portland on October 3 against the Everett Silvertips.
Ice Chips: The Portland Winterhawks Booster Club is planning its largest road trip to watch the Winterhawks play this season. Six games spread over ten nights through the wilds of Alberta and South Eastern British in the month of February with a great deal of stuff packed in between. Information will be available during the Fan Fest and online in the coming weeks at http://www.pwhbc.com.
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